If the Teachers Strike

Published: May 31, 2002

In the event that the United Federation of Teachers follows its polls and calls a strike, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg should take it and win it. The public reaction, first and foremost in the players' minds, will be critical.

The mayor shouldn't have any trouble convincing the public that as a matter of public policy, he shouldn't bow to an illegal strike by municipal teachers, particularly in light of the heroic municipal response of Sept. 11.

RAYMOND D. HORTON

New York, May 29, 2002

The writer, a former president of the Citizens Budget Commission, is a professor at the Columbia Business School.